It is customary in the South to shower brides when they are engaged to be married. We can “put on the dog” when it comes to celebrating an upcoming wedding in a setting with plenty of finger foods, punch and the such. Years ago you were given a corsage to wear, play silly games and pass all the gifts around for everyone attending to “ooh and aah” over. One particular shower that I had was at the home of Ms. Minnie Vickers. I only knew Ms. Minnie for a short period of time but she was truly a Southern Belle and a great cook. Gifts were graciously given to us that day but what I still relish the most are the sweet, handwritten recipes that I received. They were written out on small index cards or on a piece of paper with their names. Believe it or not, after almost 44 years of marriage, I still have most of those recipes saved in their original form. Most of these women are gone on to their heavenly home now but their talents with food and their graciousness lives on.
The recipe I’ve prepared this week is one of those precious recipes. While browsing through my disorganized mess of recipes, this one grabbed my attention. It is one of the best brownie recipes ever! I guarantee you they will not last long!
Enjoy this beautiful weather!
Brownies with Chocolate Icing
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 sticks margarine
4 T. cocoa
1 cup water
½ cup milk
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine sugar and flour in a medium to large bowl. Set aside. In a saucepan, melt margarine and add cocoa and water. Bring to a boil and add to sugar and flour mixture and mix well. Add milk, vinegar, soda, eggs and vanilla. Bake in a 13 x 9 x 2 or 16 x 11 baking pan for 20 minutes.
Icing
1 stick margarine
4 T. cocoa
6 T. milk
1 box powdered sugar (approx. 3 ½ cups)
½ to 1 cup pecans, chopped
¼ tsp. vanilla flavoring
Melt margarine in a saucepan and then add cocoa and milk. Bring to a boil and add powdered sugar. Mix well. Add pecans and vanilla flavoring and spread over brownies.